08 May 2012

Bibi and Mofaz: a match made in political heaven

As far as local politics go, the news is nothing less than a political nuke: ten days after Bibi went public with the idea of early elections; two days after a series of Mofaz' interview where he blustered and beat himself on the chest, promising to unseat Bibi in the said election, the two declare creation of a "national unity" government.


As far as Bibi goes, there is nothing left but to quote (for a change) the Haaretz scribe:
Senior Haaretz analyst Yossi Verter says that, after getting over initial feelings of disgust and nausea, you have to admit that Netanyahu has once again taught us all a lesson. He's Israel's number one politician, no doubt - by a mile.
Right. Bibi came out a clear winner, not buts about it.
He is the number one politician, no doubt - by a mile. He bought Kadima, with its 28 MKs for a nothing, for two and a half coins, thus ensuring himself another 18 months in power, headed by a coalition of 94 MKs.



Now Mofaz - the man who gets the full bore of the above mentioned disgust and nausea, of course. As an aside: maybe he doesn't deserve too much of the above - he is just a politician, and a politician must do what a politician must do, after all. Zigging and zagging is the name of the game, however there should be some moral limits, after all:
Kadima chairman vowed never to join Netanyahu's government just two months ago, called his new coalition partner a liar last January.
Which is also kind of forgettable, and what is a bit of political spit on one's face with all the detergents available now?  Besides, we all know that joining the government - under any conditions, no matter how insulting and degrading - was Mofaz's wet dream from the day when his ex-rival Livni took over Kadima party after Olmert's political demise.

And of course, the other Mofaz's promises, like the one where he'll lead Israel's social protest this summer: if I were Bibi I would put Mofaz in charge of dispersing the crowds...which he will do eagerly, I bet.

As for the losers: yes, there are a few. The two main ones are, indeed:
  • Shelly Yachimovich and Labor – the polls predicted close to 20 Knesset seats for Labor. Yachimovich was riding the social protest wave, and now will be hung out to dry in an armored Audi with body guards, in her role as opposition chairwoman with a mere eight Knesset seats.
  • Yair Lapid – a true letdown for the man who made the great buzz, who is now en route to a lengthy dry spell and possible erosion.
Which is not all that bad, in fact. Ms Yachimovich has to be taken down a few notches for total lack of humility, and the strange political butterfly named Yair Lapid will do much better back on the TV screen where he became the darling of Israeli ladies...

Another good (very good) outcome is that the early elections, which is always a waste of time, money and paper, are off. So, all in all - what else is new?

And there are some good remedies against nausea.

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